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Nascar and Racing

The New NASCAR: Change Is OK

Posted Jun 06, 2009 3:23PM By Holly Cain (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Sprint Cup

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The pre-race buzz is understandably high for the double-file re-starts NASCAR is implementing in the Sprint Cup Series Sunday at Pocono, Pa.

But the real story isn't so much the exciting midseason change in format, but NASCAR's willingness to make a midseason change in format.

Say what you want about stock car's benevolent dictatorship, but in the last few years, the hard-line has been replaced with the open-line. And NASCAR's willingness to adapt -- in the name of more exciting competition -- may be the very thing that keeps it relevant and afloat in these tricky economic times.

The competition for fans' attention and discretionary spending hasn't been this tough in decades. After finally scaling the mountain into being a respected, legitimate big-time professional sport, NASCAR is making every effort to earn its keep there.

Take that, hockey and baseball.

Instituting a new re-start procedure isn't exactly revolutionary thinking, but it is evolutionary thinking -- the ability to evolve as necessary.

That's what NASCAR did when it started the Chase for the Championship in the 2004 season. Series officials cringed as if still unsure of their own progressive instincts and implored the press, "don't call it a playoff" -- but that's what it is and that's what the sport needed.

"The Chase" revitalized a long, tedious 36-week season and provided a fresh championship run that has only helped NASCAR as it goes up against the NFL each Fall.

This week's new re-start rule is a tiny, easy tweak to the system and the direct result of a town hall meeting NASCAR called with Cup owners and drivers last week to discuss the state of the sport and table suggestions for improvements. Like the ideas this meeting generated, the meeting itself is a development in the way NASCAR does things.

"I think that the thing that I'm most impressed with about that meeting is that they were open to ideas and suggestions and thoughts about the car and where they feel like it is at. ... Just the sport in general and the economy and safety and all of those things,'' said four-time Cup champ Jeff Gordon.

"I think it's fantastic and I love where they're going with that and I hope we see more of them.''

It's the type of innovative thinking and willingness to make reasonable reaction few would have associated with NASCAR 10-15 years ago.

The veteran drivers joked this week that they are still getting used to it.

"I told someone at Charlotte that there was no way ever that we would do double file restarts in 2009 and I believed that we would do it in the Nationwide and Truck Series and then do it in Cup Series in 2010,'' Jeff Burton said.

"I'm shocked that they made the decision and are doing it this year. I don't normally see them make big procedural changes like this in the middle of the year.

"I'm not saying it is wrong, but it is very surprising.''

That may be because like a lot of us, Burton remembers the late Bill France Jr. holding court every January during preseason testing. He would join the drivers and a small group of reporters gathered in the Daytona International Speedway garage during a lunch break to informally answer their questions.

There wasn't much gray area. France certainly didn't welcome constructive criticism from the press and there weren't open forum sessions for teams. Mostly, he listened to a handful of longtime NASCAR executives and a few top drivers such as Richard Petty and the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. in the back of the NASCAR "hauler."

Change wasn't on top of the agenda then. It was a different time and the sport was still trying to establish itself and earn an identity.

But times are different now and NASCAR, including France's son, Chairman Brian France, who recognizes the need to be current and reactionary with purpose.

"They didn't make double-file restarts because all the drivers said, 'hey make double file restarts,' they made them because all the drivers said, 'yeah, if the fans want to do it, do it.' This is strictly for the fans to make the race more exciting,'' Burton said.

"We should always be willing to look at ourselves and figure out how to do it better. I don't think you will see something this big for a while, but I think you are going to see a lot of little things that impact the way the cars drive.

"There are so many options for people out there to be entertained . ... it has really given NASCAR an opportunity to look at themselves and say, 'how can we do it better and what does that mean, 'doing it better.' ''

It isn't just that NASCAR is asking the questions, but that it is willing to listen to the answers.

Tags: jeff+burton, jeff+gordon, JeffBurton, JeffGordon, NASCAR+rules, NascarRules, Sprint+Cup+Series, SprintCupSeries

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